The invention of LINDT chocolate

Rodolphe Lindt

Chocolate? Melt-in-the-mouth?

It was 1879. Rodolphe Lindt, the son of a Bernese pharmacist, wanted to make chocolate. Do you know what chocolate was like at the time? It was hard: hard to process and hard to eat. You actually had to chew it. Soft? Enjoyable? A joy for the senses? A pipe-dream. It did not become reality until one pivotal evening...But stop! Things didn't go that fast. Rodolphe Lindt was a confectioner, epicurean and bon vivant who wanted to create a chocolate that was not hard and pleasing to the pallet. He bought an old factory hall with antiquated machines. Bernese society was surprised but this did not discourage Rodolphe. He conducted some experiments, but nothing worked. On the contrary: A white layer formed on the chocolate mass. Bernese society poured scorn on him.

It was his brother Auguste, a pharmacist like his father, who analysed the white coating which turned out to be harmless: crystallised fat. The testing continued well into the night. More cocoa beans? Cooking the Cocoa butter? Nobody had done this up to then! He worked on the recipe, thought about it, experimented. But no matter what he did, he was no closer to achieving his goal. "Chocolat fin"? You must be joking! Then came that Friday evening. Rodolphe Lindt, jeered as one of the "jeunesse dorée", left the factory without having finished his work – and more importantly, without having switched off the machines. Did he forget to do so because he was in such a hurry? Or was it intentional? Did he have a hunch or was it a small act of defiance? We don't know. But the machine continued to run: for a whole weekend.

When Rodolphe Lindt entered his factory on the following Monday morning, he was initially shocked. But what he found in the stirring tank was anything but hard, burnt chocolate mass. It shone; it smelt wonderful. And when he tasted some of it, he was the first person ever to experience how chocolate melts in the mouth. He was in seventh heaven.

The secret of the "chocolat surfin"

Nobody has known it up to now – or almost nobody. One thing is for certain: The stirring for hours, even days and nights is all part of it: The conching process. Cocoa butter? Definitely. But how much? Hm. And what else?

Small country, big tradition.

For almost 150 years, chocolate manufacturers in Switzerland and the rest of the world have been trying to discover the secret behind the family recipe. Nobody has quite managed to do so up until now. The melt-in-the-mouth chocolate from Rodolphe Lindt has remained a symbol not only for world-renowned Swiss chocolate but also for the innovativeness and inventive spirit of successful entrepreneurs from this small country in the heart of Europe: the country of LINDT chocolate.

Recipes

Classic Chocolate Brownie
Every one has their favorite brownie recipe and this is one of lindt’s maîtres chocolatiers.the success of a brownie depends not only on the ingredients, but also on not overbaking it.Reviews